The legendary black metal act Cradle Of Filth once seemed to become the leaders of the more commercial black metal scene, yet somewhere they seemed to have fucked up for the “true” fans and Dimmu Borgir gladly took over this position. Yet the band still has a loyal following ready to buy their latest effort; Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder. Let’s see what they’ve come up with now.

 

Cradle Of Filth is one of the hardest black metal bands to review I think. Musically this band supersedes many of its genre-mates, but that was never the point with black metal anyways. I always felt that the band sort of lost touch with the people they were making music for. Yet that shouldn’t be an argument for a true musician, for what Cradle Of Filth does is staying true to a formula that works excellently for them. The atmosphere they put down on Godspeed On The Devils Thunder is utterly amazing. It feels like a sinister medieval Shakespeare play gone Satanic. The spoken interludes really give the theatrical feeling, and the choirs and guest vocals of Sarah Jezebel Deva enhance this even more.

 

Yet the sound this band produces seems more like a normal groove metal band with a load of black metal elements, especially with the excellent production on this disc. The riffs of this band are far from the traditional black metal standard, yet musically they are way beyond that standard anyway. The typical vocals of Dani Filth are as recognisable as always, coming from the depths of his bowels as well as the highest tip of his throat. All this combined offers an almost symphonic black metal record of a high level. Fans of the later Crade Of Filth work can pick this one up blindly, the more traditional or “true” fans of the genre best keep away from this.